Road America Races On

By Henny Ray Abrams | 3/20/2009 10:55 PM

Race fans lamenting the loss of AMA Pro Road Racing on the World Superbike weekend at Miller Motorsports won't have to wait long for their fix; the following week all five AMA classes will be in action at Road America, site of the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader.Track president George Bruggenthies confirmed he has a deal in place after negotiating a contract with AMA Pro Racing CEO Roger Edmondson and vice president of marketing and communication Ollie Dean. The trio had a face to face meeting during Daytona Bike Week "and we reached agreement on what terms would be and we're just waiting for the paperwork. It's a done deal," Bruggenthies said of the traditional June 5-7 weekend. "We've got a race this year. We're both promoting it."That's good news for fans of the 4.048 mile, 12-turn all-weather race track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The races run rain or shine on a track with three sixth gear straightaways that often features close finishes. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates Mat Mladin and Ben Spies split Superbike wins last year. Nine of Mladin's record 73 career wins came at Road America, with the first coming in 1997 on a Fast by Ferracci Ducati.Because the weekend schedule has yet to be settled, Bruggenthies can't say for certain what activities will be included outside of the racing."We've got a doubleheader for Daytona SportBike and American Superbike, one each day," Bruggenthies said. "We working on the sked. We want to see just how much time there is. We're thinking there may be time to do some other fan activities."Bruggenthies pointed out that the Daytona season-opener is not the template for a normal road race weekend. Referencing this weekend's schedule at Auto Club Speedway, Bruggenthies believes "that's probably pretty close to what we'll have."Road America will continue to have track rides for fans and Aprilia, Ducati, and Buell will have demo rides. Ducati is coming with a mini-Ducati Island. Title sponsor American Suzuki is coming with their display."We're going to have an event that looks like previous events," Bruggenthies said.

Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.